Opodo travel news

Heathrow has hit back in the debate on airport expansion in the south of England by claiming that local residents support it.

Noise pollution has long been cited as an argument against adding a third runway at the already stretched airport - the UK's busiest - but Heathrow claims that a new survey contradicts this standpoint.

A poll of 6,000 west London residents found that 60% feel positively towards Heathrow and 66% believe the benefits of having the UK's main hub on their doorstep outweigh the negatives.

Furthermore, the Feltham and Heston area, which suffers from the most noise pollution, showed the greatest support for expansion (51%).

'Anti-Heathrow campaigners claim that everyone living near Heathrow is opposed to the airport, but that simply isn't true,' commented Heathrow's director of corporate affairs Clare Harbord.